Apple has seeded the first build of Leopard 10.5.1. "Apple details a number of issues addressed in the seed. Specifically, there have been fixes to Mail Sync, Spotlight Index, Disk Management, DesktopServices and moving files across partitions, Text Drawing, iCal and CalDAV syncing, Keychain login, Read-Only Issue with SMB, AirPort 802.1X, Application Firewall, To-Do Notes, and Smart Mailboxes. This list of issues, however, is never exhaustive, so other bugs may have also been addressed in this seed."

since you're an idiot (microsoft user that only understand yearly service packs, i'll explain it).... apple releasing an update is norma and they usually release an update every month or two to add small functionality and fixes.

these updates are free, small and arent anywhere near a 'service pack' that takes 1-2 years for MS to release.

It's interesting to note that of all the talk about Leopard, nobody points out that it comes a lot closer to "bringing teh snappy" than any previous release of OS X. The UI seems a lot faster than Tiger on my MacBook. Spotlight is way faster, and the Spotlight-powered search entries in the Finder are very usably fast, especially considering what they are. The Finder itself feels a lot more responsive than previous versions. And Quicklook is extremely snappy, even with large documents.

That said, Leopard is definitely a .0 release. I haven't encountered any instability or anything in more than a week of heavy use, but I have encountered "weird" behavior more than once. Eg: after 8 days of continuous running (since the upgrade), I had to reboot the machine because an FTP share wouldn't eject.

I bought Panther and Tiger on the day they were released. Actually, thats a lie. I pre-ordered them a few weeks before, in order to get the on the day they were released. Yes, I'm one of those crazy early adopters.

However, Leopard is the first release of OS X where I'm happy to wait out. Not because Leopard is bad or anything. From what I've read, it is much more stable than Tiger was at release. I'm waiting because Tiger is doing all that I need it to do and it's rock solid. Why fix something that ain't broke (yet)?

why yes that's completely applicable and not just 'oh those elitist mac users' without any real connection to what was said

Seeing as you apparently have nothing to contribute beyond Jr. High-level sarcasm, I'll make it extraordinarily easy for you: offer something resembling a convincing argument that the quoted text I replied to was *anything* other than painfully-obvious affected superiority, and I'll eat a copy of Leopard (with your choice of garnish).

ps penny arcade isn't funny

There's an insightful and well thought-out critique. Let me guess - somethingawful is a little bit more your speed?

The fact that this 'idiot' went out of his way to provoke a flame war by saying something that is patently false. Not just an opinion, but a blatantly false statement - notice he hasn't even ATTEMPTED to participate in the discussion? he is yet another fly-through forum spammer hoping to cause a racus and flame feast.

Yes, Leopard has issues, just like Windows Vista, but unlike Windows Vista, we aren't waiting months for updates, those who have complained, a good portion later admit they've tweaked their OS to buggery - thus bringing it upon themselves. The issue isn't that we as Apple uses don't like criticism of our OS of choice, but when people make groundless accusations or worse, be a forum spammer hoping to stir up trouble.

Sorry, is that a joke? Is it supposed to be funny? Does it have anything to do with this discussion?

The Mac vs PC ads were lame but come on penny-arcade, try to make a joke that is at least remotely witty and funny. Then again, it's penny-arcade. Sharp (or even dull) wit isn't exactly their strong area.

So you're the universal arbiter of what is or isn't wit? Or was there some actual *substantial* / qualified criticism you neglected to include? Because if not, I don't see any reason not to simply assume it's just the usual OSNews practice of confusing easily-bruised egos with critical opinions.

Sorry, is that a joke? Is it supposed to be funny? Does it have anything to do with this discussion?

Well, I'm a Mac user and I can tell you that I found it funny - go into any Mac shop and you're almost certain to trip over a person like that. Yes, there are also people like that in the Windows world - who claim their 'elite' status on how many short cut keys they know off by heart, or how fast they can move their cursor to accomplish a task - never mind the fact they don't know a damn thing about computers or IT in general.

The Mac vs PC ads were lame but come on penny-arcade, try to make a joke that is at least remotely witty and funny. Then again, it's penny-arcade. Sharp (or even dull) wit isn't exactly their strong area.

It was a piss take on the PC vs. Mac rivalry; you sound like the type of people who sit around monitoring late night programming to compile a list of complaints for the FCC. Get over it and stop taking life so seriously.

In terms of code changes, not that long (not as long as Windows). Monthly bug-fix releases stop shortly after the new release (eg: 10.4.11 will be the last Tiger build likely), and security fixes stop around the release after that (eg: security updates to Jaguar stopped soon before the Tiger release). Software support varies somewhat. Most frequently-released free programs tend to support only the latest couple of releases --- commercial software usually supports further back.

As for forums, macnn.com is a good Mac forum, as is the Machintosh Achaia on ArsTechnica.

This is why I really don't like that Apple had their rant about "All versions $129, haha look at windows license mess". I've had my windows XP fully upgraded for five? years. The big thing in Vista (.net etc) is available, although with a somewhat crippled rendering engine. And I can still run a win32 program from over a decade ago.

If they feel the need to mock windows, there are other areas that actually are motivated to mock.

The "rant" makes more sense if you consider what Jobs cares about: complexity, not cost. Keeping OS X up-to-date may very well have a higher cost in terms of $/feature than Windows, over the period of the last 5 years. But there is no denying that the licensing scheme is simple. On October 28, I went into the Apple Store, grabbed the box with the big "X" on it, and one of the clerks checked me out right on the spot. Buying Vista isn't so simple. Indeed, without actually looking it up on the internets, I wouldn't even know which version to buy.

For me too. Leopard runs perfectly stable and the only bug I've encountered is also with spaces; if you open an applicaton that takes a few seconds to load and then "zoom out" to see all desktops the new applications is just put over everything in full size. Not a big deal but still. Though I haven't seen the bug your're mentioning. Are you sure you don't hit the key combo to switch desktop by misstake?

I have been a Windows user since Windows 3.1. I have worked in a corporate IT department for seven years, administrating and supporting Windows. I have often defended Microsoft (as well as cursed them). I personally just never became friends with Vista (no bashing, just my personal opinion).

So I got my first Mac three days ago (MacBook). Leopard is by no means bug free. And there are certainly also things in Mac OS X that I find counterintuitive and cumbersome. But in general I find it a very stable and productive system. I would say that it is a lot more stable and polished than any x.0 version of a Microsoft OS I have ever encountered. I can only imagine what it will be like in a few months when the worst bugs have been ironed out.

From a functionality point of view, there is not too much difference between Mac OS X and Vista, (that being said, I am crazy about spaces). But when I look at the intangibles, such as ease of use and productivity I am amazed so far - I am really impressed.

So I certainly haven't regretted my purchase so far.

(as a final note I should mention, that I think I owe it to the open standards and open source crowds to make the switch so easy)

Does this release resolve the issue with Leopard's Time Machine not working with networked external hard drives over WIFI? Time Machine was supposed to work with networked hard drives when released but unfortunately does not even when used with Apple's Airport Extreme Base Station (AEBS).